Friday, February 17, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 123, Feb 16, 2017

There were several Islamic State attacks upon east Mosul,
while the Iraqi forces (ISF) were hunting down Islamic State sleeper cells. A drone
hit Rashidiya in the north of the city wounding three people. Rocketshit
two other neighborhoods leaving 4 dead and 12 injured. A suicide bomber was killed
before he could set off his device, while another was arrested near a mosque. In
the outer east three neighborhoods were closed off as the ISF conducted raids
and searches looking for IS fighters. A few days ago an Iraqi general said it
would take 30 days to hunt down all the sleeper cells in east Mosul. That’s yet
to be seen. In the meantime IS has picked up its attacks upon the liberated
half of the city with not only indirect fire, but suicide and car bombs and
infiltrations as well.

IS also attacked
the Hashd in the Tal Afar district out in the west. Insurgents continue to
throw themselves against the Hashd in that western area with nothing to show
for it except a lot of dead men.

There are huge shortages in west Mosul. Food is very scarce,
but the Islamists are now demanding
that the residents donate what they have or be punished. It has been reported
that the IS fighters are facing the same deprivations as the public in the half
of the city under its control, which explains this new policy.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a new report
on abuses by the Hashd southwest of Mosul. It talked with people from five
villages and used satellite photos to accuse the Iraqi forces of looting and
destroying homes. 6 people from the town of Ashwa were interviewed. They said
the village was freed by elements of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and the Ali Akhbar
Brigades. They told all the residents to leave and go to displaced camps in the
south. The Iraqi forces then incorporated the town into a large security zone
with a berm and ditches. Satellite imagery showed that from December 2016 to
February 2017 140 buildings were destroyed with explosives, earth moving machinery,
and fire. HRW talked with three residents of Mashirafat al-Jisr next to Ashwa.
One resident said that members of Kataib Sayid al-Shuhada arrived in the town
and told people to go to camps in the south. A week later some people returned
and found their houses burned and looted. During that time Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was
in charge of Mashirafat al-Jisr. Satellites showed that 90% of the buildings in
the village were burned. Similarly, when the Hashd freed Khoytlab all the
civilians left and have not returned since. From December to February 110
buildings were damaged using explosives, machinery and fire. Finally, 6 people
from Qaraqosh told HRW that their houses had been looted and burned by
government forces, which consisted of the Christian Ninewa Plains Protection
Units, elements of the army’s 9th Division, and federal and regular
police. 3 people said they returned to the town in October after it had been
liberated and found no damage to their property. When they went back again in
November and January they found that everything had been taken. Finally, in
Khidir residents complained that Hashd forces including members of the Babylon
Brigades had looted the town. HRW asked the Hashd to comment on their
accusations and were told that all the damage was done either during the
fighting or afterward due to IS booby-traps. Satellite photos and residents
disputed those claims. Previous HRW reports have documented other incidents by
the Hashd in Ninewa such as beating
civilians, summary executions
of suspected IS members, and arbitrary arrests.
These have been carried out by Shiite, Sunni, and Christian forces showing that
these were not sectarian incidents. Rather they point to the unprofessionalism
and lack of discipline of the Hashd and their propensity for abuses. Elements
of the ISF may have misbehaved as well in Qaraqosh.

The Associated
Press talked with a family that had lost a son who was an army officer to
the fighting in east Mosul in December. They said that they were proud of their
son and his sacrifice, but that they felt disrespected by the government who
had not officially recognized his death. That’s because Baghdad does not
release casualty figures to keep up morale.

The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development has
been touring the districts of east Mosul. In Karama
on the eastern edge of the city it found no running water with people having to
drill holes in pipes to access some. There were no aid or government agencies
present. Markets were open, but people had little cash and no jobs. In Tahrir
in the northeast residents were also tapping into pipes for water, but some was
also being trucked in. There were some aid groups providing food. Like Karama
there were also markets selling goods, but people were having a hard time
buying anything. These issues are likely facing many more parts of he city.

Several hospitals in Irbil were set aside to care for the
wounded from the Mosul campaign, and were overwhelmed in the
process. An official from the Irbil General Health Directorate told Rudaw that
around 14,000 civilians and members of the ISF were treated in Irbil, with a
similar number suffering from illnesses due to a lack of health services.
Caring for those people used up 8 months of medicine in just 2 months. Kurdish
officials criticized Baghdad for not providing any assistance. This has
implications for the future as more people are going to be sent to Irbil when
west Mosul is attacked. They may push the health care in the city to the
breaking point.

The number of people returning to their homes in Ninewa has
gone up recently, but the aggregate figures for displaced went up in the last
few days. The International Organization for Migration counted
a total of 160,302 people registered with the government and aid agencies on
February 16. That was up from 152,448 on February 12, for an increase of 7,854.
One cause for that was the increase in IS shelling of east Mosul, which the
United Nations reported
was up 25% from the previous week. At the same time, going back to the start of
the month there were 161,178 displaced highlighting the fact that there is a
constant move of people back and forth leaving and going back to their homes.
There have been 57,462 returns from camps since the Mosul campaign started in
October 2016. These figures do not include all the people that moved around
within east Mosul during the fighting, and never registered.

Al
Monitor talked with people in displaced camps who wanted to return. They
have to put in a form with the authorities, have the ISF check that their area
is cleared, and then get approval before they can depart. One man said he
wanted out of the camp because life was hard there and there were no jobs. He
said his neighborhood in Mosul had been freed so he didn’t know why he should
stay in the camp. A woman said her relatives had gone back to their area and
found that their homes were looted so she wanted to secure her property. People
knew that there were shortages of electricity, health care, and drinking water
in east Mosul, but that it was better to be in their own homes rather than
staying in tents in a camp. Despite the difficulties it is only natural for
people to want to be in their houses. As the IOM report showed more and more
people are leaving these camps.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com